Results from our first tournament run last Thursday, 17th February 2005 ... 5 round allegro, 15 minutes each, no increment.

The Field: Fourteen (14) players participated which was a somewhat stronger than expected turnout for our very first tournament, with Bill Collins (2084) and Denis Bourmistrov (2025) expected to do well. A suprise visit from IA Gary Bekker (1565) was most welcome.

Round 1: Charles Abrahams (1344) caught out young Jared Frost (unrated) with an Orang-Utan opening (1.b4). Mike Smith (1342) and improving junior Michael Collins (1016) played the game of the round ... the latter winning on time with just 2 seconds left on his own clock in a roughly even position.

Round 2: Gary Bekker played a great game to beat Denis Bourmistrov. A minor family feud between Stephen Frost (1197) and son Jared was resolved in the elder's favour.

Round 3: Bill Collins moved to 3/3 with a win over Gary Bekker. Denis Bourmistrov moved back into contention with a win over Tony Waller (1793).

Round 4: Bill Collins moved to 4/4 by opening up Stephen Frost's stonewall defence and catching him in a mating net. Gary Bekker improved to 3/4 with a win over Charles Abrahams.

Round 5: Gary Becker moved into contention (4/5) with a win over Stephen Frost's Benoni Defence after picking up a crucial pawn late in the game and eventually converting it to a Queen. But Bill Collins (5/5) underlined his superiority on the night with a well-earned win against Denis Bourmistrov (3/5).